Tarec Saffiedine will carry a previous career accomplishment into the cage when he meets Hyun Gyu Lim in UFC Fight Night 34’s main event. And at the same time, he will throw it away and start anew.

“In my heart, I’m still the Strikeforce champion,” he told MMAjunkie. “But I had to put that aside and just focus on the future. Now, I’m in the UFC, and I need to focus on that and get the win. I need to get another mindset.”

In 2013, much of Saffiedine’s mental energy was directed toward getting healthy. The 27-year-old Belgian welterweight suffered two serious and separate injuries that twice forced him to delay his UFC debut. The first prompted him to withdraw from a summer fight with now-contender Robbie Lawler, while the second took him out of the running for a bout with the surging Matt Brown. He kept his issues private, declining to say what ailed him.

Now, he’s back, and he’s got work to do.

In the flood of events that followed Saffiedine’s most recent performance, a title-winning upset over onetime UFC middleweight title challenger Nate Marquardt in Strikeforce’s final event, he was lost in the shuffle. To deliver on the promise he displayed in the now-defunct promotion, Saffiedine (14-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) needs to make a statement in his fight with Lim (12-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who replaced an injured Jake Ellenberger.

“I think I need to go in and enjoy myself,” Saffiedine said. “There’s always a little bit of pressure and a little bit of stress, but it’s part of it. You just need to deal with it. But I’m just going to enjoy myself. I’ve been training so hard for this fight, it’s a matter of going in there and believing in myself and doing what I need to do to win the fight.”

Even though Lim is nowhere near to being a known UFC commodity, having fought and won only two octagon bouts, Saffiedine isn’t discouraged by the downgrade in stature.

“Obviously, I was really excited to fight Jake,” he said. “Jake is a big name, and I think it would have been a great fight. But I don’t underestimate Lim, and I’m excited to face somebody like him.

“I think if you look at it another way, like, every win in the UFC is a step forward,” he later added. “And Lim is a good fighter. Even though he’s unknown, he’s a good fighter, and I believe a win over him puts me back on top.”

Lim most recently appeared in the octagon this past August at UFC 164, where he knocked out Pascal Krauss in a “Fight of the Night” performance. Previously, he knocked out Marcelo Guimaraes at UFC on FUEL TV 8.

Saffiedine has won his past four bouts, with his only loss of the past two years coming via decision to Tyron Woodley in a Strikeforce title eliminator. In that performance, his relative deficiencies in grappling were exposed as Woodley outworked him on the mat and in the clinch.

Thus far, Kim has shown himself to be more of a knockout artist than a wrestler, so that bodes well for Saffiedine, whose primary training is in kickboxing.

“His guard is really low,” Saffiedine said of his opponent. “He’s not afraid of getting punched, I guess. I think it can be a strong point, but also a weak point. And I don’t know if he can go five rounds. We’ll see how his cardio is.”

Against Marquardt, Saffiedine went five rounds and chopped away at his opponent’s legs until they were almost useless. He never wavered in his attack.

Leg kicks figure to be on display again in the international-themed event. This past year, Saffiedine lost ground to more active fighters such as Carlos Condit, Brown, Woodley and Lawler. But he could make it up in 2014 if he’s able to stay active.

He can’t wait to get the process started.

“I’m itching to get back in,” Saffiedine said. “I’m losing my weight, I’m relaxed, and I can’t wait to get back in.”

From Our Partners

The Latest

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.